The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Request for Comments (RFC) 2461, describes a neighbor discovery protocol for IPv6 nodes that are connected on the same wired or wireless link. The RFC 2461 also specifies a router advertisement message format that enables a router to specify an address prefix to used by a host attached to the link for autonomous (stateless) address configuration; alternately, the router advertisement message can direct hosts connected to the link to utilize stateful address configuration according to Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCPv6), described for example in RFC 3315.
RFC 3633 describes IPv6 prefix delegation, where a delegating router that includes a DHCP server can delegate an address prefix to a requesting router, for example across an administrative boundary.